Hi. This is my first post. I've been lurking for awhile but now would like to partake in this community. I'm a citizen of the USA.

I'll be finishing up my Virginia teaching license ESL PK-12 with a MSc. Curriculum and Development next year and aware that I'll have opportunities to teach in government schools in Virginia (and other states with reciprocity status) and some international schools.

I also picked up my Irish citizenship a few months ago, making me a dual citizen. From what I gather, that allows me to live/work in the EU. I admit, I'm ignorant of the details beyond that.

Besides working at applicable international schools in Europe, would a Virginia teaching license combined with permission to work in the EU allow me to work in EU government schools? I don't know if Irish or other EU countries recognize licenses and education from the USA. Does anybody have any insight into this? I'm' sure a high school in Dublin or London has similar immigration issues that the USA faces and hence, a demand for ESL in their government schools.

What other opportunities would a Virginia licensed teacher have in Europe with an EU member passport? Thanks for insight.

I don't know what you mean by 'EU government schools.' Do you mean public high schools? If this is what you are thinking of, most such language teaching positions are filled by qualified locals, who speak the native language plus English. There are occasional openings in this kind of school, and I know of a few native speakers who teach in regular high schools, but openings are pretty rare in my experience (decade + in the European region) and usually taken by people who live in the area and have local contacts and language skills. It's not a common area of opportunity for native speakers regardless of qualifications, though you might find an opening here and there.

I don't know what you mean by 'EU government schools.' Do you mean public high schools? If this is what you are thinking of, most such language teaching positions are filled by qualified locals, who speak the native language plus English. There are occasional openings in this kind of school, and I know of a few native speakers who teach in regular high schools, but openings are pretty rare in my experience (decade + in the European region) and usually taken by people who live in the area and have local contacts and language skills. It's not a common area of opportunity for native speakers regardless of qualifications, though you might find an opening here and there.

Thank you for your prompt response. By EU government schools I do mean public high schools. Schools provided by the government for public use...kindergartens, primary schools, middle schools, and high schools.

Then the above answer is applicable. A few openings around, but you basically need local contacts to get most/any of them. This is a niche effectively filled by locals in almost all cases throughout the region.

If you are a citizen of Ire' and would like to teach there you would be treated like anyone else of course. You would have to look into whatever it takes to become a certified teacher in public schools in the country and then apply like anyone else. I'm sure your U.S. degree would count for something. If you want to teach in public schools in non-English speaking countries Spiral is, of course, right. You would really have to look for specific openings for native speakers of English or be near fluent in the local language. For international schools you should get two years experience in America and apply from there.